Printing press



Feb. 6, 1934.

H. FANKBONER PRINTING PRESS Filed March 10 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l TTORNEY r sh. 6, 1934.

H. F ANKBONER PRINTING PRES S Filed March 10, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. a? NVENTOR 1934- H. FANKBONER 1 PRINTING PRESS Filed March 10'; 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 5 NVENTOR Patented Feb. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRINTING PRESS Application March 10, 1932. Serial No. 597,976

14. Claims.

The present invention relates to printing presses and more particularly to a novel and improved inking mechanism for use with rotary printing presses.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and lo combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end view of the present illustrative embodiment of the invention, with certain parts shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 3;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2, with certain parts broken away;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary diagrammatic sectional views illustrating different phases in the operation of the illustrative embodiment; and

Fig. 6 is a detailed fragmentary section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 4.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel and improved inking mechanism by which the ink supplied to a printing cylinder can be minutely regulated in accordance with the various operating conditions of the press. Another object is the provision of a novel inking mechanism in which the amount of ink fed to the printing cylinder is determined by the area of ink moved to feeding position with respect to the inkdistributing train.

In accordance with the present embodiment of the invention, the inking mechanism includes a rotatable fountain roller and a feed roller and ink drum out of contact with the fountain roller. A segmental transfer roller is provided for removing a relatively thin, uniform but regulable film of ink from the fountain roller, and transferring a regulable area of this film to the feed roller by oscillation of the transfer roller. Means are provided for oscillating the transfer roller while in contact with the fountain roller and feed roller, and for limiting the extent of this oscillation to vary the amount of ink fed. As embodied, the

transfer roller is formed in a plurality of independently movable sections which are oscillated throughout different arcs in accordance with the different columnar requirements of the printing cylinder.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory of the invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the present illustra- 05 tive embodiment of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings, a fountain roller 10 is rotatably journalled at its ends in suitable journals 11 on the ends of the fountain trough 12, and is positively drivenat a relatively slow speed from some moving part of the printing press. Fountain roller 10 dips into the ink contained in the trough 12, and as it rotates, the surplus ink is removed from the roller surface by means of an adjustable blade 13 leaving an ink film of uniform thickness. Blade 13 is supported on one of the fountain side walls 14, and is secured thereto by plate 15 and screws 16. Plate 15 extends above the blade towards fountain roller 10 and near its free edge adjacent to the fountainroller carries a plurality of regulating screws 17, one for each column width, which may be turned to vary the thickness of the ink film retained on the fountain roller.

An ink-distributing drum 20 and a feed roller 21 are rotatably journalled in contact with each other and out of contact with the fountain roller 10. A suitable inking train (not shown) is provided for receiving ink from the ink drum 20, distributing it and transferring it to the printing cylinders in accordance with usual practice.

For transferring ink from the fountain roller 10 to the feed roller 21, and thus to the inking train and printing cylinder, a plurality of axiallyalined segmental transfer rollers 24, each of single column width, are mounted on a shaft 25 extending parallel to the other rollers. Shaft 25 is so positioned that the surface of transfer segments 24 may be placed in substantial contact with the surface of fountain roller 10 and feed roller 21 at the same time.

Transfer segments 24 are adapted to be resiliently moved in one direction and positively moved in the opposite direction during their oscillation. For this purpose collars 30 are pinned to shaft 25 between adjacent transfer segments 24, and coil springs 31 connect each transfer segment with its corresponding collar 30. Spring 31 is preferably coiled about shaft 25 within a suitable cylindrical recess 33 and one of its ends is secured by projection into an aperture 32 in segment 24, while the other end projects into aperture 34 in collar 30. One face of collar 30, adjacent to the corresponding segment 24, is cut away to provide a shoulder 35 concentric with shaft 25 which forms a bearing support for the segment. Each spring 31 serves to drive its segment 24 in an angular direction opposite to that of the rotation of rollers 10 and 21, and pin 36, projecting radially from shaft 25, contacts with a laterally projecting pin 37 on segment 24 to drive the segment reversely or in the same angular direction as rollers 10 and 21. 4

Means are provided for continuously oscillating shaft 25 and segments 24 in timed relation with the operation of the printing press, and for this purpose a cam 40, provided with an eccentric cam track 41 is keyed to one end of fountain roller shaft 42 and is rotated thereby. A segmental gear 44 is oscillatably mounted on a stub shaft 45 and is provided with a cam roller 46 to run in cam track 41. Segment 44 meshes with a segmental pinion 47 keyed to shaft 25, and as fountain roller 10 is rotated, segments 44, 47 and 24 are correspondingly oscillated.

Means are provided for variably limiting the degree of oscillation imparted to each of the segmental transfer rollers 24, to regulate minutely the amount of ink fed to the various columnar portions of the inking mechanism. For this purpose a plurality of variably positionable stop screws 50, one for each segment 24, are threadedly mounted in a bar 51 extending transversely of the inking mechanism and supported on channel 52. Stop screws 50 project forwardly towards the segments 24, and the forward end of each screw is adapted to engage the web portion 55 of the corresponding segment 24 as the segments are resiliently moved by springs 31 and shaft 25.

The ink-transferring faces 54 of transfer segments 24 are preferably of equal width and are positioned closely together to present a substantially continuous ink-transferring surface from one end of the mechanism to the other.

The operation of the foregoing mechanism may be summarized as follows: Fountain roller 10, feed roller 21 and ink drum 20, together with the other rollers of the inking train, are continuously rotated at speeds proportional to the rotation of the printing press member by which they are driven. Roller 10 dips in the ink contained in trough 12 and all but a uniform amount of this ink is removed from the surface of the fountain roller by blade 13. The transfer segments 24 are continuously oscillated by segmental gear 44 and segmental pinion 47, gear 44 being driven by the eccentric cam 41.

Fountain roller 10 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction, and during the: clockwise portion of the oscillation of transfer segments 24, the inkreceiving surfaces 54 pick up a film of ink from the fountain roller 10, as in Figure 4. Springs 31 drive their individual segments 24 in this clockwise direction until the upper edge of web 55 contacts with its stop screw 50. During this movement, the transfer surface 54 transfers its' ink to feed roller 21 which is moving in the same direction at the point of contact with rollers 10 and 21. Springs 31 yield when the web 55 of transfer segments 24 comes into contact with stop screws 50, as shown in Figure 5. On the reverse movement of transfer segments 24, and while moving in a direction opposite to that of rollers 10 and 21 at its points of contact with them, stop pin 36 engages pins 37 and moves the transfer segments back to a uniform position.

Movement of the stop screws 50 inwardly reduces the area of contact between the transfer segment 24 and feed roller 21 and thereby reduces the amount of ink transferred to the inking train, while an outward movement of the stop screws 50 causes a corresponding increase in the area of contact, thereby increasing the mount of ink delivered.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

1. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, a transfer, roller between the drum and roller, said transfer roller comprising a plurality of members having segmental ink receiving surfaces relatively movable to each other.

2. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, a transfer roller between the drum and roller, said transfer roller comprising a plurality of members having segmental ink receiving surfaces, means for oscillating said segmental members and means for variably limiting the oscillation of said segmental members.

3. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, a transfer roller between the drum and roller, said transfer roller comprising a plurality of members having segmental ink receiving surfaces, means for oscillating said segmental members in contact with said drum and fountain roller and means for variably limiting the oscillation of the individual segmental members.

4. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, and transfer means for transferring ink from the roller to the drum, said means comprising a plurality of members arranged side-byside, means for moving said members in unison between the fountain roller and drum and means for variably limiting the area of contact between said members and drum.

5. An inking mechanism for printing presses icluding in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller and transfer means for transferring ink from the roller to the drum, said means comprising a plurality of members arranged side-by-side, means for moving said members between the fountain roller and drum and means for individually and variably limiting the area of contact between said members and drum.

6. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller and transfer means for transferring ink from the roller to the drum, said means comprising a plurality of members arranged side-byside, means for moving said members between the fountain roller and drum and into and out of contact with one of these elements and means for individually and variably limiting the area of contact between said members and one of said elements whereby the amount of ink fed may be accurately regulated.

7. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in' combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, and transfer means contacting with the roller and drum, means for oscillating said transfer means and means for variably limiting the amount of oscillation.

B. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, transferring segments to contact with the roller and drum, means for limiting the area of contact between the drum and segments.

9. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, a segmental transfer roller between the drum and roller and means for oscillating the transfer roller.

10. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller, a segmental transfer roller to transfer ink from the roller to the drum, means for oscillating the transfer roller and means for variably limiting the amount of oscillation.

11. An ink drum, a fountain roller, an oscillatable segmental transfer roller to transfer ink from the roller to the drum, means for resiliently moving the roller in one direction and positively moving it in the other direction and means for variably limiting the amount of oscillation of said segmental roller.

12. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller driven by the press, and a transfer roller to contact with the fountain roller and transfer ink to the drum, a gear oscillated by the fountain roller and a pinion fixed to the transfer roller.

13. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller driven by the press, and a transfer roller to contact with the fountain roller and transfer ink to the drum, a gear oscillated by the fountain roller, a pinion driven thereby and fixed to the transfer roller and means for variably limiting the oscillation of said transfer roller.

14. An inking mechanism for printing presses including in combination an ink drum, a fountain roller driven by the press, and a transfer roller to contact with the fountain roller and transfer ink to the drum, said transfer roller comprising a shaft and a plurality of adjacent relatively 'movable segments mounted thereon, a gear oscillated by the fountain roller, a pinion on said shaft and driven by said gear and means for variably limiting the oscillation of said transfer roller segments.

HARLAND FANKBONER. 

